The Old and the Restless - The Egyptians and the Scythians in Herodotus' Histories by Robert J. Hagan

9 truly dreadful

9 truly dreadful prospect for any Greek used to mild weather almost year-round, and certainly befitting a distant end of the known world. It is true that the rainfall patterns of the Eurasian continent east of the Black Sea are quite different than those of the Mediterranean civilizations, where it hardly ever rains inthe winter and is quite dry inthe summer. Herodotus even writes that “there is no fairer region inthe whole known world” than Ionia (1.140). In climate, theEgyptians experienced conditions opposite from theScythians. Egypt is "one of the hottest places inthe world," andthe sun there is powerful enough to evaporate the Nile. As opposed to the overbearing winter of the north, inland Libya, just beyond Egypt, is "inthe grip of constant summer" (2.25). The implications of such extreme weather on the populations of Egypt and Scythia are manifold, as we shall see shortly. When discussing Egypt’s geography, Herodotus spends a significant amount of energy on what we might call scientific explanation. He is perplexed bythe science behind the Nile's flow, particularly the fact that it floods inthe summer, unlike most known rivers, which flood inthe winter. He states three extant theories on why the Nile floods inthe summer, andthen debunks them. However, he turns to Egypt's powerful sun as the reason, citing its powers of evaporation, and its drift across the across the sky because of storms. While we now know this to be false, Herodotus' powers of reasoning are admirable and his arguments well organized. Herodotus also associates the idiosyncratic behavior of theEgyptians with their different climate and river. He writes that “Just as theEgyptians have a climate peculiar to themselves, andtheir river is different from all other rivers, so, too, have they instituted customs and laws contrary for the most part to those of the rest of mankind” (2.35). He notes several examples of customs that are opposite to those of the rest of the world; they write from right to left, keep their

10 animals inthe house, and urinate differently from most peoples (2.35-36). By Herodotus' logic, the sun, which causes the extreme heat andthe Nile's peculiar flooding pattern, is linked with the backwards behavior of theEgyptians. The link can sometimes can be causal as well. Applying his thinking to fauna as well, Herodotus explains that in Scythia, the winter is so harsh that the livestock there do not grow horns, whereas in Libya, they "grow horns shortly after birth" (4.29). For Herodotus, a people's condition comes from their surroundings. Given the nature of scientific information inHerodotus' time, it is not surprising that he manages to link so many facets of Egyptian and Scythian life to their extreme climates. It would be natural from a Greek perspective to believe that such opposite behavior would result from their strange, harsh (and relative to those of their neighbors, static) climate. Herodotus was certainly not alone in his inferences. The famous physician Hippocrates, a contemporary of Herodotus, equated the nondifferentiation of seasons in Scythia and Egypt with a general "uniformity of resemblance" amongst their peoples. 3 The hot climate seems for Herodotus to inspire complacency andinertia inthe Egyptian people. He believes that their geography allows them to gather their crops with incomparable ease because of the Nile (2.92-94). While not made explicit, his emphasis on the reliability of their food source and stable climate indicates that their subjugation bythe Persians is, in part at least, a result of the comfort of their surroundings. When one juxtaposes the wretched climate of theScythiansandtheir alacrity to uproot themselves to defend their homeland with the rapid 3 Adams, F., trans., “On Airs, Waters, and Places.” 199.